Refrigerated water system



May 20, 1952 E. J. COLETTI REFRIGERATED WATER SYSTEM Filed Aug. 5, 1950ll ll.

Patented May 20, 1952 IT ED STATES v2 Claims. 1

This invention relates" to refrigerated water systems, and morespecifically-to the drinking water systems-such as required, forexample, in Pullman'cars andsimilar installations wherein it isdesirable to'provide uniformly cool water at any one of a multiplicityof'outlets.

In'the drinking water systems'of'the" most modern types presentlyemployed in conventional "sleeping cars, the individual taps or outletslocated in the various compartments or roomsof' the'car are allconnected to a common recirculating system. Ordinarily, this system issupplied with water: from a refrigerated-cooler provided nearoneendofthe car. In the most common present construction, the carsare providedwitha compartment about six-feet high and" nine: or" ten inchessquare; in i which" this cooler," as" well as the j compressor,condenser; evapprator; and. ,fan'; of the refrigerating system are;installed. Obviously; the size. and shapeof this" compartment; which isdictated by; the limitations of space available within the car, requiresexpensive equipment especially designed for such installations.

This arrangement has also shown itself to be disadvantageous in severalother" respects, particularly since the fan'and condenser of therefrigerating system are located within the car and adjacent the roomsand compartmentsthereof, Where they are not only difficult of access forrepair, inspection and service, but where-they are in the'proximity ofan unusually high concentration of'lint in the air, and ma positionwhere the'noise of operation of the mechanical parts'of'the unit isirritating topassengers in the car.-

In further explanation of the above, it may be pointed'out that since itis essentialto have adequate circulation of air through the condenserofthe refrigerating unit, there appears to be no feasible way ofeffectively soundproofingthe unit orv its'housing sufiiciently that thenoise of its operation will'not disturb passengers inthe car. largequantities of bed linens, etc., within the car, together with theactivityof'many people within a comparatively small area, and theconstant abrasion of carpet, upholstery and clothing; gives" rise to anextremely high lint content in the air. This is a source of constanttrouble inconventional systems, since it tends to-accumulate on the finsof the condenser of the refrigerating system so rapidly that repeatedservice is requiredto keep the units in condition' for efiicientoperation.

At the same time, the presence of The present systems are furtherobjectionable in-that'the temperature'of the water available in thevarious-compartments is not uniform, even with a well insulatingrecirculationsystem, since there areal-ways enough thermal lossestobring about a drop-of several degrees between the tem-' perature ofwater available at a tapcloseto the cooling unit and the water availableat a mor'e remote outlet.

It is; therefore; the general aim of the present invention to provide "anovel and improvedwater cooling system wherein the "disadvantagesinherent inconventional installationsare largely overcome, so that watermay be supplied to a multiplicity of outlets-at a-more constanttemperature, yet with less expensive equipment than-heretoforerequired.

A further object of 'theinvention' is-t0 provlde a water cooling systemwhich is of f greater el fi'ciency than those heretofore proposd,so-that a'higher'capacity unit may be employedatle'ss to beunafifectecl-bythe presence of lint-in the 7 air inside of the car,,andto utilize less interior spaceof the car.

In the present invention the above objects are brought about by a'uniqueWatencooling system whichdeparts from the prior practiceoi providing aunitary water cooler with a supply line extending therefrom to thevarious .outlets ofthesystem, and provides, a systemwhjerein theevaporator ofithe refrigerating unitislcsoextensivewith the water supplyline and inheat exchanging relationship therewith throughout its length,so that'the refrigerating actioritakes place along the entire length ofthe linerathe than at the point of supply only. 7, By, this means it;isentirely feasible to provide a system ,where:

in water cooled to theoptimum temperature will,

be available at any and every tap along the entire supply'line, evenwithout utilizing arecirculating'system to maintain uniformity of"temperature. The system isequally applicable;

however, to any type of recirculating system, and a preferred embodimentof the invention utilizing the present teachings in connection with therecirculating system of a railroad sleeping car is described inconnection with the drawings of this application, wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a preferred form of thepresent invention; and

Figure 2 is a detail sectional view of the junction between the watersupply line of the system and the refrigerant line of the evaporatoremployed thereby.

The system here disclosed is adaptable to installation in hotels,residences, oflice buildings and many other locations, but isparticularly well suited to installation in railroad sleeping cars,

for example, and will accordingly be described in connection with aspecific illustration of such an installation.

The car, generally designated as Ill, includes an undercarriage or framecomprising beams II to which trucks or wheels 12 are secured in theconventional manner. It will be understood that while no detail is shownin the present drawings, such a car has a number of separate rooms orcompartments, each of which is provided with a faucet or tap such as theoutlet valves l3, l4, l and I6.

It is obviously desirable to supply each of these multiplicity ofoutlets with fresh, clean refrigerated water at a uniform temperature.Moreover, it is desirable that the water supplied to these taps beavailable instantly upon opening the tap, without necessity of drawingoff a quantity of water before water of the desired temperature reachesthe outlet.

To this end, the valves I3, I4, I 5 and 16 are each connected to acommon water supply line I 8, which extends from a discharge outlet IQof a recirculating pump 20. The supply line I8 is a part of a closedrecirculating system including a return line 2|, which extends from theouter extremity of the supply line 18 to the inlet 22 of therecirculating pump. The recirculating system is insulated throughout byan insulating layer 24 over the supply line and over the return line,and the recirculating pump may be enclosed within an insulating housingif desired. All of these parts are Within the railway car, however,where they are not subject to extremes in temperature, so that theentire recirculating system is adequately protected against freezing.

Water drawn from any of the outlets of this recirculating system isreplenished through a supply connection 25 which extends from areservoir 2'5 through a check valve 21 and into the return line 2| fromwhence it is drawn through the pump 29 and discharged into the supplyline l8.

The water from the reservoir 26 may be forced into the system by gravityif the reservoir is located at a sufiicient height, but with thereservoir located below the car and suspended from the frame membersthereof as shown, any conventional means (such as the compressed airvalve 21) may be employed to force the water from the reservoir into therecirculating system. It will be understood, of course, that if thewater supply reservoir is positioned exteriorly of the car as shown,adequate precautions will be taken to prevent freezing of water insevere Weather, as by provision of additional insulation or an internalheater (not shown). Also, a filler cap 28 or other connec- 4 tion isprovided for replenishing the supply of water in the reservoir.

The present system differs from systems heretofore employed primarilybecause of the fact that the water is refrigerated throughoutsubstantially the entire length of the recirculating system rather thanat a single source of supply. To accomplish this, the car is providedwith a refrigerating unit 30 comprising a compressor 3| and condenser32, both of which may be conveniently mounted on a single base 33 anddetachably suspended on the undercarriage ll of the car, as by the bolts34. As is conventional in such units, the coils of the condenser mayterminate in an expansion valve 35, from which a refrigerant supply line36 leads to a coupling 31 on the lowermost end of a tube 38 extendingthrough and sealed into the exterior wall of the line I8, as indicatedat 39 (Figure 2). The tube 38 comprises the evaporator of therefrigerating system, and this tube, which has an outside diameterconsiderably smaller than the inside diameter of the water supply lineI8, extends through the recirculating system the entire length of thesupply line 18 and, as shown, continues through the rear line 2| to anexit connection 4| adjacent the inlet 22 of the recirculating pump. Fromthe point 4| the refrigerant is fed back to the inlet 42 of thecompressor through a return line 43 coupled to the inlet line 44 of thecompressor by a detachable coupling 45.

From the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe cooling unit of the present system does not cool the water at onepoint only (as is the practice in conventional systems), but is sodesigned that the cooling takes place along the entire length of thesupply and return lines, so that the system tends to maintain a highdegree of uniformity of temperature at all points in the line,irrespective of whether the pump 20 is operated to keep the water inconstant circulation.

It is to be further noted, however, that even if relatively largequantities of Water are drawn off from the several taps in the system,adequate cooling is provided to water supplied thereto, since thegreatest cooling effect of the evaporator 38 occurs in the portionsclosest to the expansion valve, and this portion of the evaporator ispositioned between the pump 20 and the outlets of the supply line, sothat the water entering the line is adequately cooled before it reachesthe tap. A thermostat 46 may be positioned in the line to control theoperation of the refrigerating system, as is conventional inrefrigeration practice.

It should be observed that with a system constructed in accordance withthe present teachings, all difficulties arising from the presence of therefrigerating mechanism within the car are eliminated, and it followsthat operation of this mechanism cannot disturb occupants of the car byreason of the noise produced, and that the fins and cooling coils of thecondenser will not be subjected to high concentrations of troublesomelint laden air. The ordinary dust encountered on a railroad right-of-wayis not particularly bothersome in this respect, since it has very littlematerial having fibers of sufficient length to cause objectionableclogging.

The system here disclosed is additionally advantageous in that thepositioning of the refrigerating unit at a point outside of the carmakes it feasible to use any conventional type of compressor andevaporator, rather than one specifically designed for the limited spaceavailable in an interior compartment of the car, and also renders theoperating parts of the refrigerating unit easily accessible forinspection, repair or replacement. As a matter of fact, the entire unitmay be quickly and easily removed merely by loosening the bolts 34 anddetaching the connections 31-45. An entirely new unit may thus be put inposition, connected and placed in operation without disturbing occupantssleeping in the various compartments of the car.

With all of the above, the system here disclosed accomplishes moreeflicient cooling than heretofore obtained, since substantially theentire external surface of the evaporator is in direct contact with theliquid being cooled. This reduces thermal losses to a marked degree, andthus accomplishes greater eificiency in cooling than heretoforepracticable in such installations.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a circulating refrigerated water system for a railway car, thecombination of a closed recirculating cool Water circuit comprising asupply line having a plurality of water outlets spaced apart along itslength, a circulating pump having an outlet discharging water into saidlines under pressure to maintain flow therethrough, and a return lineextending from said supply line to the intake of said pump, with saidsupply line, circulating pump and return line located within the saidrailway car; a water supply connection for said recirculating circuit,

and a refrigerating system located exteriorly of the car, with anevaporator comprising a refrigerant line extending substantially theentire length of the water supply line and in intimate heat exchangingrelationship therewith.

2. In a circulating refrigerated water system for a railway car, thecombination of a closed recirculating cool Water circuit comprising asupply line having a plurality of water outlets spaced apart along itslength, a circulating pump having an outlet discharging water into saidlines under pressure to maintain flow therethrough, and a return lineextending from said supply line to the intake of said pump, with saidsupply line, circulating pump and return line located within the saidrailway car; a Water supply connection for said recirculating circuit,and a refrigerating system located exteriorly of the car, with anevaporator comprising a refrigerant tube smaller than the water line andextending therethrough with the exterior walls of the tube in directcontact with the water in the supply line.

EUGENE J. COLETTI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,712,567 Kritzer May 14, 19291,726,093 Williams Aug. 27, 1929 1,826,372 Spreen Oct. 6, 1931 1,924,525Taylor Aug. 29, 1933 2,085,186 Eger June 29, 1937

